KATHMANDU: A 19-year-old youth has landed in police net on charge of murdering his girlfriend in Bhaktapur.

Police had found the body of 23-year-old Alisa Nepali aka Santoshi of Sindhupalchok district on roadside near Manohara River in Madhyapur Thimi-2 on November 5.  She was reported missing on October 29.

According to police, the suspect, Muktinath Lamichhane aka Resham, allegedly killed Nepali on October 28, for vengeance after he apparently found out that the woman was cheating on him.

Referring to investigation, Metropolitan Crime Division said the duo had come to know each other six months ago when they worked in a mineral water factory in Budhanilakantha. Lamichhane hails from Ramechhap district and currently resides in Bode of Bhakatpur, while Nepali lived in Budhanilakantha of Kathmandu.

To woo her, police said, Lamichhane had gifted her money many times.

But when he found out that the woman had started affair with another man before Dashain, in the morning of October 28, he invited her to settle a score, according to police.

In his residence in Bode when Lamichhane asked Nepali about the money that he gave her and the paramour, a quarrel broke out. In a fit of anger, Lamichhane hit her on head multiple times with an instrument to weave straw carpet till she breathed her last, police investigation revealed.

In a couple of hours of the murder, police said, Lamichhane dumped the victim's belongings including jacket, bag and shoes and the blood stained carpet of his room in Neelvarahi forest area, which lies around 2 km away from his residence. Later at night, he threw the victim's body, which was kept in a plastic sack, on the roadside, 200 m away from his residence.

After killing her, according to police, Lamichhane used the victim's mobile phone and called her father feigning as a Hindi speaker to demand Rs 15 million for the "safety and return" of the woman.

The following day he even accompanied the victim's father to lodge a complaint of missing at police station.

Police, however, came to a conclusion that Lamichhane was behind her murder and arrested him today after an investigation.

He would be handed over to the Metropolitan Police Circle, Thimi, tomorrow for further legal action, the Metropolitan Crime Division said.